As volunteers started gathering the names of elected
officials who have served Liberty Township, they found at least six families that have had multiple members serve on the township committee or were
involved in other township activities, according to Jodee Inscho.

"When you raise your children in that environment and you set
a good example and you show them what it's like to serve the town, they're
going to grow up knowing that and carry it on," Inscho said.

Township officials this week recognized every elected
official who had ever served the township with a plaque that will now hang in
the township's municipal building. Committee members officially dedicated the
plaque during the township's annual reorganization meeting.

Assembled over the course of six months by Inscho -- wife of
Mayor John Inscho -- and township Clerk Diane Pflugfelder, the plaque lists the
name of every elected official since 1926.

"A lot of times the officials are putting a lot of time and
effort into their job, making hard decisions, getting a lot of criticism and
you wonder does anyone appreciate it," Inscho said. "I just want to let them know
now that we do appreciate it."

Inscho said the majority of the information on the plaque
came from county directories held at the Warren County Library, as well as from
microfilm of newspapers from various time periods and historical election
results. Part of the challenge in researching those who served the township was
not only in finding the names of the elected officials but also in locating
their descendants to inform them of their relative's service in the township,
she said.

There were also no township records kept from the 1980s due
to a personnel issue at the time, according to Inscho.

Inscho said she was able to locate many of the
families, some of whom were still in the township and some still serving the
township. They include current Deputy Mayor Carl Cummins, whose
great-grandfather, Jonathan Cummins, served on the township committee.

"A lot of these families are still in town and still involved
in the town," Inscho said. "It really shows that when they say public service
is in your blood, it really is."

She said she's grateful to all the elected officials for their
work.

"I think it was a wonderful gesture on behalf of the township
committee to recognize the efforts of the past elected officials," she said.
"As a genealogist and local historian, I personally appreciate the fact that
they've acknowledged them."

Township resident Kellie Petersen said she thinks the plaque
is an important piece of the township's history.

"It's just important to recognize the past as well as the
people who are involved today," said Petersen, whose husband, Ronald Petersen, currently
serves on the township committee.